catchall

noun

catch·​all ˈkach-ˌȯl 

ˈkech-

variants or catch-all

plural catchalls or catch-alls

: something designed or serving to catch, hold, account for, or include miscellaneous items or a wide variety of things

The secret weapon for battling kitchen clutter in this case is a simple tray. … The trays act as catch-alls or places to neatly store anything that gets left out.

—Marie Rossiter

After a period of rapidly rising consumer prices, "inflation" is a catchall for economic woes.

—Edward Lotterman

—often used before another noun

a catchall bin

… long COVID, the catchall term for the sometimes debilitating health problems that can last for months or years after even a mild case of COVID-19.

—Lauran Neergaard

Examples of catchall in a Sentence

They used the drawer as a catchall for kitchen items.

“The arts” is a catchall for a variety of activities from painting to music.

Recent Examples on the Web

Eagleton peppers his vague promises of better living through technology with references to Jeffrey Epstein, 5G, Anthony Fauci, and scores of other catchall male grievances and desires. —Ian Crouch, The New Yorker, 29 Nov. 2024

Indeed, Greeley seemed to be a classic, if unusually tragic, case of what doctors of the day referred to as neurasthenia—a sort of catchall diagnosis encompassing anxiety, depression, insomnia, loss of appetite, physical exhaustion and other symptoms typically attributed to overwork. —Greg Daugherty, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Sep. 2024

Use it as a stylish catchall or just a good place to pull your shoes on in the morning. —Savannah Smith, Rolling Stone, 12 Aug. 2024

While voters say their top concern is the economy, family life offers a robust catchall for how voters feel about the state of the country – and offers the campaigns a way to share their visions for America. —Ali Martin, The Christian Science Monitor, 31 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1827, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

catchall

noun

catch·​all ˈkach-ˌȯl 

ˈkech-

: something to hold a variety of odds and ends